If the barometer of an interesting TV awards show is the number of fresh faces invited to the party, then the Golden Globe nominations (announced Thursday morning) passes the test. Not with a perfect score, mind you. Any institution that so completely ignores NBC's wonderful Friday Night Lights deserves some spirited jeering.And the Globes' addiction to sexy sizzle and hype can lead to some puzzling choices: Big Love, fun as it is, over The Sopranos' final season? Bill Paxton over James Gandolfini? (And if the Globes is going to shower love on Big Love, how could the women who play Bill's wives go unheralded, especially Ginnifer Goodwin?) Californication over Weeds?But let's look at the bright side. The Hollywood Foreign Press clearly spent some time checking out the TV landscape during last summer's remarkable season of cable breakthroughs. My own pick for No. 1 show of the year, AMC's Mad Men, is nominated for best drama, along with its dashing leading man, Jon Hamm. FX's Damages,...
read more
Billy Bob Thornton and Bill Paxton in A Simple Plan courtesy Paramount
Last week it seemed that everything was conspiring to remind me of A Simple Plan seeing the trailer for the Coen brothers upcoming No Country for Old Men based on the Cormac McCarthy novel stumbling across Stephen Kings rave review of Scott B Smiths second novel The Ruins having an argument about what The Bible says is the root of all evil So rather than ignore the signs and portents its my DVD Tuesday pick Directed by Sam Raimi and based on Smiths debut novel A Simple Plan is a terrific example of what may be my favorite kind of thriller the kind where someone makes a mistake that snowballs until he or she has lost everyone and everything that matters and all efforts to make things right just make them worse Its the quintessential noir plot and while the poor put-upon victim of cruel fate seems fated to get trapped in some cosmic web the fact is he or she consistently masochistically it often seems makes exactly the wrong decision which transf
read more
In TV time it has been six weeks since the familys comeuppance at the mother-of-the-year ceremony and things are still completely out of alignment in the Henrickson household Barb still humbled by the guilt and shame she has brought on the family has fled the scene resentful of Bills domineering approach to problem-solving Nicki both enticed and terrified by the possibility of taking over as first wife tries to appease and scheme her way into the post bullying Margene all along the way And the kids are just trying to live their lives the best way they can in the shadow of their familys secret No matter what you think about polygamy as a way of life or as a premise for a television drama you cant argue with the caliber of acting on display here in HBOs latest twist on the nuclear family Bill Paxton is incredibly effective as a man who is torn between his heart his faith and his obligations At times I am confoun
read more
Near Dark courtesy Anchor Bay
Near Dark puts a bloody twist on vampire cliches and features a very young Adrian PasdarSend your movie questions to FlickChickSee Maitland McDonagh and Ken Fox review this weeks new flicks in Movie TalkA hero a big lover and three alien fighters walk into a bar and let me tell you all hell busts loose I love Near Dark 1987 the best vampire film never to use the V word ever made As I was watching the Heroes finale last week I thought this would be a fine time to acquaint or reacquaint DVD Tuesday readers with a very young Adrian Pasdar Heroes Nathan Petrelli a scorching hot Bill Paxton Big Loves Bill Henrickson and dynamite middle-aged murder junkies Lance Henriksen and Jenette Goldstein Paxton who was also in Aliens does double duty in my admittedly gimmicky lead forgive me please Not to mention Joshua Miller son of playwright and Exorcist star Jason Miller and hands down the creepiest movie kid ever Plus the underrated Tim Thomerson
read more
The best thing you can say about the Golden Globes nominations is that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association isn't afraid about welcoming new kids to the party, especially if they've made a little noise along the way.On the plus side, that means shining some love on deserving candidates like America Ferrera and Ugly Betty, a show and a performance that would seem tailor-made to the Foreign Press's presumed concerns about diversity in entertainment. Likewise Masi Oka, who gives one of the most endearing supporting performances in all of television as Hiro of Heroes (which also got a nod as best drama series).Other freshman acts in the nominee pool include: Michael C. Hall (yay!) of Showtime's Dexter, Alec Baldwin (yay!) of NBC's 30 Rock, Julia Louis-Dreyfus (yay!) from The Old Adventures of New Christine, Bill Paxton and Big Love from HBO (beating out The Sopranos and The Wire, among other more deserving HBO dramas; and besides, where are Paxton's wives in the grabbag supporting ca...
read more
Bill Paxton, Big Love
What's a fella to do when he has Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny and (that's right, and) Ginnifer Goodwin for wives (other than invest in Hallmark stock, that is)? Big-screen star Bill Paxton talks with TV Guide about getting some real action as a Viagra-popping polygamist in HBO's new dramedy Big Love (Sundays at 10 pm/ET).
TV Guide: You're a big-screen actor with a solid career who's never done a TV series. Why make the exception for Big Love? Bill Paxton: What I saw right away was that this was a brilliant way to take an alternative lifestyle as far out there as polygamy and use it as a prism to examine contemporary society and mores.
read more
Big Love I've come to realize that as much as I worry that I watch too much TV to feel adequately optimistic about the medium, I still turn on a new HBO show hoping they've scored another Sopranos or Deadwood and not just an Arliss. Never mind that I want to see Bill Paxton in something good. I have a soft spot for the guy, since pretty much every male of a certain age can, like myself, recite line after line of him as Chet in Weird Science, and as "Game over!" space Marine Hudson in Aliens. And that's not even mentioning other great stuff like One False Move and
read more
Here's what you want to know: Was it worth the wait? Was it ever!
The Sopranos (Sundays, 9 pm/ET, HBO) already breaks every rule in the TV book, with its intoxicating blend of family intrigue, psychological character study, dark humor and raw violence. So why shouldn’t it test our patience and loyalty by putting nearly two years between seasons?
By the explosive end of the first hour, you’ll have forgotten how much time has passed between chapters, and you’ll be counting the minutes until the next episode. Just like old times.
The return of The Sopranos is one of the major TV events of any year, and how great to be buzzing again about Tony and Carmela, Uncle Junior and Christopher, Paulie and Silvio — and even a slimmed-down, amped-up version of the formerly obese
read more
Big Love, the HBO drama premiering March 12 and starring Bill Paxton as a polygamist, already isn't playing well in Utah, where mainstream Mormons are anxious to set the record straight on their religion. "Polygamy was officially discontinued in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1890," the group says in a statement. "Those groups which continue the practice... have no association [with us]. It will be regrettable if this program... minimizes [that fact]." An HBO rep tells the Post that Big Love producers have added a note at the end of the first episode that addresses the issue, then asks, "Can't y'all just pick on The Book of Daniel?"
read more
